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Spring may have sprung, but the door to your office cage certainly hasn'tnot with all the tasks you have piled up. Take heart, we have the key. We can't lighten your workload, but we can lighten the load you need to haul to head outdoors. When you can't get away from day-to-day duties, thin-and-light portables and ultralights at least let you get away from the office.

We've rounded up three escape tools for you. One is thin and light: The Toshiba Tecra M2-S630. Two, the ASUS S5NE, and Sharp Actius MM20, are ultralights. All these freedom machines build in wireless networking, and considering the explosion of public hotspots, there's a good chance you'll have Internet access from that sunny park bench. Put on sunblock, thoughyou'll be outside for a while. All but the S5NE manage better than 2 hours of operation on a single charge. Add a light, $85 extended battery to the S5NE, and even it gets 3:27.

The laptops we've gathered cater to a variety of needs. I/O on the Tecra M2-S630 is top-notch and includes Bluetooth and an SD/IO slot. And those of you particularly averse to being nailed down will, of course, appreciate the featherweight ultralightsthe S5NE barely tips the scales at 2.8 pounds and the Actius MM20 comes in, remarkably, at a hair under 2.

So after this long and particularly tough winter, what are you waiting for? Spring is busting out all around. Read these reviews and get set to bust out yourself.

Editor's note: For all the advice you need to purchase the right laptop, be sure to check our just updated Notebook Buying Guide.